The referee involved in Italy's controversial elimination
from the 2002 World Cup was caught at Kennedy Airport with bags of heroin
attached to his body, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested
Byron Moreno late Monday after he arrived in New York on a commercial flight
from his native Ecuador.
During a routine inspection, Moreno "became visibly
nervous," according to a complaint filed in federal court in Brooklyn.
A customs agent felt "hard objects on the defendant's
stomach, back and both of his legs," the complaint said. A strip search
revealed that the lumps were 10 clear plastic bags containing more than 10
pounds of heroin, it said.
A judge jailed Moreno without bail on a drug smuggling
charge.
"I'm looking into the circumstances that led to this
unfortunate situation," Moreno's attorney, Michael Padden, said Tuesday.
Moreno enraged Italian fans in 2002 when he sent off
Francesco Totti, giving the Italian a second yellow card for an alleged dive in
the penalty area 13 minutes into overtime of a 2-1 loss to South Korea in the
World Cup's second round.
A 111th-minute goal by Italy's Damiano Tommasi that would
have advanced Italy was disallowed, apparently for offside, and South Korea was
awarded a penalty kick - which goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon saved - for a foul
by Christian Panucci against Seol Ki-hyeon.
"I think Moreno already had the (heroin) in 2002, but
not in his underwear, in his body," Buffon said. "Joking aside, when
sports people get involved in drug cases it means they're scraping the bottom
of the barrel.
"It also means they've lost the real meaning of the
sport, which is also to save kids from the street and various dangers, like
drugs," Buffon said.
In 2003, Ecuadorean soccer officials suspended Moreno for 20
games after a domestic match drew complaints about him from both teams. He
added 11 minutes of stoppage time to a game between domestic clubs Barcelona
and Liga de Quito without recording it.
He resigned a short time later.
Moreno also refereed the United States' opening 3-2 upset of
Portugal at the 2002 World Cup.
